Lin Mu hadn’t known about someone like Huang Bao joining this time since there was no information about him in the booklets. It was more like, everyone had thought that he was in seclusion and would not be participating.

But now it seemed like the man had given everyone a surprise. 

‘It is his first fight. If it was his second or third fight, the people would have already known that he was participating.’ Lin Mu thought to himself.

He tried to scan through the information he had and only learned that the man was a top fifty contender in the last Tournament of the Four Guardian Beasts. Having reached that far only meant that the man was not weak.

Top fifty might seem a bit unimpressive, but considering how many contestants there were, top fifty was massive. Anyone that could reach that point was considerably strong and had the skills to back it up.

Lin Mu looked around for Huang Bao, as he hadn’t seen him in the ring. 

‘If he was here already, the people would have known.’ Lin Mu reckoned that the man hadn’t arrived since his match was scheduled so late.

A few seconds passed before a man entered the arena. Lin Mu looked at him, finding him to be at the Third Tribulation stage of the Immortal Realm. 

Just from his cultivation base, he didn’t seem impressive, but Lin Mu could tell there was something more to him. 

Huang Bao was six feet tall and was relatively fat. His belly bulged out while his face jiggled as he walked. His arms were like thick logs while his legs made the ground tremble with each step.

He had dark brown eyes, and a plain smile was present on his face. He wore red and orange robes that had flame motifs on them. 

Overall, he didn’t seem to evoke a sense of danger or anything but Lin Mu had a hunch that the man was strong.

Huang Bao walked into the ring and cupped his hands.

“Huang Bao greets Daoist Mu Lin.” The man said jovially.

“Greetings Daoist Huang Bao.” Lin Mu too greeted the man wondering how he should go about this. ‘I’ll need to end this fight quick if I am to make it to Ming Aolian’s ring.’ He thought.

Lin Mu’s immortal sense was spread in the ring and covered every inch of it. He reckoned it was best to end it with a strong attack right from the start. But he didn’t know how Huang Bao would be acting thus it was best to be aware of everything around him.

After all, his high with Mei Nienzhen had shown him that there were many different techniques and they could be hidden too.

“Both contestants ready?” The referee raised his hand.

Seeing that Lin Mu and Huang Bao took their places before the referee lowered his hand.

“FIGHT!” he announced.

“I’m sorry but I’ll have to finish this fight early, Daoist Huang Bao.” Lin Mu briefly said before a sword appeared in his hand.

“Oh? Does Daoist Mu Lin have somewhere to be?” Huang Bao smirked. “Well even if you do, you can always forfeit and leave.”

“That will not be an option.” Lin Mu said before raising the sword and entering a stance.

~SHUA~

As soon as he did though, his entire demeanor changed and his aura rose. 

Waves of energy rolled off him, making his robes flutter. Even Huang Bao narrowed his eyes seeing the sudden change in Lin Mu.

“Seems like you do have some capability, but I have been training for this too!” Huang Bao wasn’t one to be left behind and thrust his palms out.

~HISS~

In the next second, an intense heat emitted from his palms. They suddenly released a bright light while a pale yellow flame ignited on them.

“That’s the Skylight Fire!”

“He managed to do it! He actually finished in Skylight Fire Refinement!” 

The people in the audience seemed to recognize what Huang Bao was using. 

“So that’s why he came out of seclusion, he actually succeeded.” 

“What is that uncle?” the Youth in the audience couldn’t help but ask.

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“That is one of the unique fires that exist in the universe, the Skylight Fire.” The youth’s uncle spoke, his expression serious. “It is a pure yang flame that has the attributes of not only the Fire element but also the Heavenly Element Light!” he revealed.

“Fire and Light?” the youth was surprised.

Among the Four Heavenly Elements, Wind and Lightning were something that were still relatively common among the cultivators. But Darkness and Light were ones that were rarely seen.

Even for Lin Mu, this was his first time seeing a cultivator use the Light element. 

‘Fire and Light… A pure Yang flame that can be counter to darkness and Yin.’ Lin Mu analyzed the Skylight Fire.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

He hadn’t heard about it before, but it didn’t take much for him to understand it from observation. Grasping Afternoon Pine firmly Lin Mu gazed at his opponent.

~HUMM~

The double edge sword glowed in a yellow light as Sword Intent covered it. 

~huu~

“Let’s get this over with…” Taking a deep breath, Lin Mu slashed out.

The sword’s skill was activated instantly as a large yellow pine tree grew out. The Pine tree was composed of Metal Qi and was infused with Sword intent, emitting extreme sharpness. The tree’s branches were like swords while the leaves were like razors.

Huang Bao flipped his palm and slapped towards the tree that was coming towards him.

~GONG~

A metallic sound ran as his palm hit the Pine tree. Touching the tree directly like this was dangerous, as the Sword Intent within it would easily cut anything that came close to it. But much to everyone’s surprise it didn’t happen.

~SIZZLE~

A sizzling sound was heard as the palms released great heat. The Skylight Fire blossomed and spread out from Huang Bao’s hands. It greedily covered the Pine Tree, as if wanting to consume it all.

“Haaah!” Huang Bao pushed back, actually managing to divert the Pine tree.

“Whoa! Huang Bao blocked it!”

“The others fell to this skill of Mu Lin before.” The audience was thrilled.

“You’re certainly strong…” Lin Mu said as he reassessed his opponent.

Time was passing and Lin Mu knew he had to rush. He had used a strong attack right from the start, but it didn’t work. 

‘I’ll just have to do it a few more times then.’ Lin Mu’s hand moved like a blur as he slashed out tens of times in a row.

~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~

Now instead of one pine tree, tens of such pine trees grew, covering the ring in a matter of seconds.

“What in the…” The youth watching in the audience was stunned.

A similar response could be seen from the rest of the audience as they suddenly became silent. 

Huang Bao who had successfully blocked one pine tree realized he now had to block tens more. His eyes trembled as he quickly slapped his palms out, the Skylight Fire burning fiercely.

Every time he hit a pine tree, it started to burn and would stop before the skill was dispelled. But Lin Mu simply kept on slashing.

“How the hell is he doing that!?”

“Does he have endless immortal Qi or something?”

“Yeah, isn’t he just at the First Tribulation Stage of the immortal realm? How the hell is he using such strong attacks in a row?”

Everyone in the audience was a cultivator and knew that a strong skill like what Lin Mu was using would consume a lot of immortal Qi. Not to mention, he was also using Sword Intent with it, further increasing the energy consumption.

And yet it looked like Lin Mu had no issues in doing so. 

His energy only kept on rising while the double edged sword kept on releasing more pine trees made out of Metal Qi.

In just thirty seconds, it looked like a forest of yellow metal trees had grown on the ring. 

~DENG~DENG~DENG~

The sound of clanging could be heard coming from the forest, as Huang Bao tried to resist. His palms were still burning away the trees, but more of them kept on appearing. He couldn’t even move his body around, due to the trees being very sharp.

Several cuts had already appeared on his robes, and if not for the fire burning them away quickly, he would have already sustained many cuts.

“He stopped?” The audience saw that Lin Mu had stopped swinging his sword now. 

“Did he run out of Qi finally?’ they wondered.

But unknown to them, Lin Mu had different plans. Seeing that his opponent was trapped for a bit, Lin Mu let go of Afternoon Pine. The sword floated up in the air and danced, sending more slashes without Lin Mu’s control.

While the intensity of the attacks had reduced, the constant barrage still kept Huang Bao trapped.

“Huh? Why’s he in the horse stance?” The youth saw Lin Mu cocking his fist back.

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